Nail Care for Men

This might be a touchy topic at first
glance because for most men nail care starts and ends with the
occasional cutting of the nails when they grow too big to be left
alone in the wild. Besides, in some societies and social circles men
who take care of their appearance in general and their nails and skin
in particular are regarded as being feminine. But as a matter of
fact, as cooking can be regarded as simply a survival skill, cutting
your nails and maintaining them in good shape can be regarded as
basic personal hygiene and maintaining one's hygiene can hardly be a
reason to laugh at somebody.

Men's nails grow faster than women's.
Also, they are larger and thicker. This is how nature sees it
appropriate. But the fact that men's nails grow faster and are
larger, means that they also are prone to more bumps and bangs. Add
to this the fact that generally men more often have jobs that involve
physical labor, which makes their hands and nails dirty, and you will
see why washing your hands once a week is not enough if you are to
maintain a decent level of personal hygiene.

If you are still not convinced that
being a men does not suppose poor nail and skin care, consider the
fact that many male Hollywood stars, including famous action movies
heroes, do take care of their skin and nails. Additionally, women are
often repulsed by man with dirty hands, so unless you live in a very
primitive society, where dirty hands and broken nails is the
standard, some nail care is never too much. Besides, in many
societies, having clean hands with delicate skin and nails is
desirable by many men as well because it says that their owner is a
white, not a blue collar worker.

Nail care for men involves the same
procedures and products as for women. Even most of the brands that
have traditionally sold nail care products for women only have
adapted to the shift in demand and now offer whole series of nail
care products especially for men. Nail saloons also offer procedures
for men, though it seems like that the prices for men are higher than
the prices for women. This is a kind of discrimination but
nevertheless, there are saloons who offer the same prices for both
genders, so after some search it is certain that you will find a
non-discrimination saloon.

Even if you are not enthusiastic to go
to a nail saloon, there are many procedures that you can apply at
home. If you decide to grow long nails, you need to shape them first,
as described in the How to do a Manicure article.
Next, you proceed with the nail polish. Most men prefer clear nail polish because it is transparent
and has only gloss but not color. It is up to you to decide if you
will go for a color or stick to colorless nail polish but in any
case, have a look at its label to see what's inside and how often to
apply it. The reason is that there are nail polishes for men that
combine a top coat, a base coat and a strengthener, so there is no
need to purchase (and apply) all these products separately.

Depending on the polish you have
chosen, you might need to apply it daily or less frequently. If you
wash your hands many times a day, your nail polish will most likely
not survive for a long time, so you might need to reapply it daily,
especially if the polish is of the protecting kind. There are special
nail polishes that are intended for men and their main advantage is
not their bright color (they are colorless, actually) but their
chemical composition, which helps the nails to stay strong and
healthy. These special nail care products usually act as a
moisturizer and a thickener as well. It might sound funny but women
start using these “for men only” series too, so now they
have become more of a unisex brand.

When you apply nail polish, you also
need a cleaner – even for colorless polish. Again, there are
brands that are especially for men. Nail polish cleaners have the
disadvantage that they dry your nails but if the nail polish has a
moisturizer in it, everything is OK.

Additionally, you may want to use a
skin lotion to make your hands look softer. Probably you are not
surprised that again, there are brands especially for men. When you
choose a skin lotion, look for a brand that can be applied on the
nails and the cuticles as well because this way you will have to
apply it only once a day for both skin and nail, rather than twice,
if they were separate products.